Right that's how the source that I read, suggested it too. Just the different gendered elites on different days
Well that actually does make sense - it's not like you could have half the elite women run on one day and half on the next. They have to race each other!
You could have both the elite men & women run on the same day! But that would kind of take the shine off of the other day.
Not only do the elite women have to run against each other and the elite men have to run against each other, but ALL the elites should run on the same day. Otherwise different weather/course conditions on the two days would make comparing the two days poor. For the elites, a slightly cooler or less windy day could be just what they need to do a smidgen better in competition. I realize that usually the elite men are going to run quite a bit faster than the elite women, but it still seems like it would be best to have them all running in the same conditions.
Yeah, but their results are entirely separate. So they don't HAVE to compete on the same day. Usually they do, but the Olympic marathons are on two different days. As long as everyone who's competing for the same podium has the same conditions, it's fair.
The World Championships are also on separate days. Until recently, the usatf qualifying races were also on separate days, and even separate sites.
